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Seica and Andes Four
}} See also the Seica (4.5×6) rangefinder folding camera. The Seica (セイカ or 精華) and Andes Four (アンデスフォアー) are Japanese cameras taking 4×4cm pictures on 127 film. They are nearly identical except for the name and they were probably name variants of each other. The Andes Four was distributed by Misuzu Shōkai and the Seica by Kuwata Shōkai. They were certainly made by the same company. Some sources attribute the two cameras to a company called Kondo Seikō, whereas others attribute the Seica to Riken Kōgaku Kōgyō. Kondo Seikō: , items 3003 and 3051; , p.537. Riken Kōgaku Kōgyō: , p.337, no.14, p.21. It is said that the Cordlef 4×4 TLR is based on the body of the Seica and Andes Four. General description The Seica and Andes Four have a metal body with round edges and a telescopic tube supporting the lens and shutter assembly. The tubular optical finder is offset to the left and there is an accessory shoe at the left end of the top plate. The right half of the top plate is covered by a long housing, supporting the advance knob at the right end and containing an exposure counter. It is said that there is no automatic stop device and that the film advance is controlled by the exposure counter alone (some control device was necessary because the rollfilm paper backing was not marked for 4×4cm pictures at the time). No auto-stop advance: no.14, p.21, and , p.337 (item 132). There is a lever behind the top housing, certainly used to reset the exposure counter. Use of the lever: no.14, p.21. The back is fixed and the film is loaded through the removable bottom plate. There is a single red window offset to the left, protected by a horizontally sliding cover and used to set the position of the first exposure. The Seica On the Seica models, the name Seica is engraved on the exposure counter housing. Documents The camera was featured in the new products column of the January 1939 issue of . , p.337. It seems that it was attributed to Riken Kōgaku Kōgyō, but it is not known if this was the maker or the distributor. The camera name was written 精華, meaning "bloom", "flower" or "elite". (During the war period, Riken used "patriotic" names, as well as names reminding Japan's alliance with Germany.) The lens was announced as a Seica 50/4.5 and the shutter as giving T, B, 5–250 speeds. It was advertised by Riken Kōgaku Kōgyō in February 1939 for , the name being written 精華 again. Advertisement for the Riken camera range published in the 26 February 1939 issue of Sunday Mainichi, reproduced in the Gochamaze website. The Seica was advertised in from September 1940 to June 1941 by the distributor Kuwata Shōkai, , p.337. with no mention of Riken. The distribution of the camera was perhaps transferred from Riken to Kuwata, while it was produced by a third party, perhaps Kondo Seikō. The advertisements dated October 1940, February and April 1941 give the name セイカ in katakana script; only that dated February shows a picture of the camera. Advertisements in October 1940 and February 1941, reproduced in , pp.77 and 95, and advertisement in April 1941, p.512. All the documents list two versions, both with an f/4.5 lens whose name is not specified: * Seica I: T, B, 25–250 speeds ( in 1941); * Seica II: T, B, 5–250 speeds ( in 1941). The Seica I and Seica II also appear in the list of set prices compiled in October 1940 and published in January 1941, at respectively ¥60 and ¥77. , type 1, sections 5 and 7. Actual examples Only a few surviving examples have been observed. Some of them have a Perfect shutter by Neumann & Heilemann, giving 25, 50, 100, 250, B, T speeds, and a front-cell focusing Helios Anastigmat 5cm f/4.5 lens. Examples pictured in this page, in , p.537, in no.14, p.21 (one of the pictures is reproduced in this page of the Ricoh official website) and sold as lot no.78 in the 25 March 2006 sale by Auction Team Breker. (Some sources showing a camera with Helios lens nonetheless mention a Seica 60/3.5, surely by mistake.) Senzen no rikō kamera – hoi, p.21 of no.14, and this page of the Ricoh official website. On these, the shutter plate has the name PERFECT engraved at the bottom, a Neumann & Heilemann nameplate screwed to the top, and a round NH logo on the right. The aperture scale is written on another crescent-shaped metal plate screwed to the bottom. The Helios lens, also found on the Baby Germa, was made by Tōkyō Shashin Kōgaku. , lens item Jc12 for an Helios 50/4.5 lens mounted on the Baby Germa. One isolated example has been observed with a Magnon Anastigmat 50/4.5 lens and an unnamed everset shutter giving T, B, 150, 100, 50, 25 speeds. Example pictured in an online auction. The Magnon brand was also used by Kuwata for enlarging lenses. The shutter plate is marked Patents–Pending at the top and has a logo on the right, probably reading FB and exactly similar to the logo found on the shutter plate of the Mulber Six which was also distributed by Kuwata. The Andes Four The Andes Four is identical to the Seica except for the name and the lens and shutter equipment. The name ANDES FOUR is written on a nameplate attached above the exposure counter housing. It is also repeated at the front of the ever-ready case. The lens is a front-cell focusing 50mm f/3.5. The shutter is everset and gives T, B, 150, 100, 50, 25 speeds. Its front plate is marked VERIO at the top and 2600 at the bottom, and has an aperture scale from 3.5 to 16 at the bottom. The Andes Four is listed in the January 1941 official price list cited above, under the names "Andes I" (¥60) and "Andes II" (¥77). , type 1, sections 5 and 7. It is also featured in the March 1941 issue of , where it is attributed to Misuzu Shōkai, certainly the distributor, and called Andes Four II. , p.334. Two surviving examples of the camera have been observed so far. The lens name is engraved as ANDES Anastigmat Example pictured in , item 3003. A smaller version of the same picture is reproduced in , p.334. or ANDAS Anastigmat Example observed in an online auction (lens no.3106). — the latter is surely the result of an engraving mistake. Notes Bibliography Original documents * . Advertisement by Kuwata Shōkai in April 1941, p.512. * Type 1, sections 5 and 7. Recent sources * Items 17 and 132–3. * P.537. * Items 3003 and 3051. * Senzen no rikō kamera – hoi (戦前のリコーカメラ・補遺, Prewar Ricoh cameras – appendix). Pp.21–2. * Tanaka Masao (田中政雄). "Rikō kamera no nagare" (リコーカメラの流れ, Evolution of the Ricoh cameras). Pp. 8–11. Links In English: * Seica: lot 78 of the March 25, 2006 Photographica and Film auction by Auction Team Breker In Japanese: * Pages of the Ricoh official website: ** Seica in the camera list (copied in this page of the Kitamura Camera Museum) ** article about Riken wartime camera names * Advertisement for the Riken camera range published in the 26 February 1939 issue of Sunday Mainichi, reproduced in Japanese camera page of the Gochamaze website Category: Japanese 4x4 viewfinder Category: Ricoh Category: S Andes Four Category: 1939